WASHINGTON --- Armet Cole's short jumper with four seconds left
lifted 25th-ranked Kean University to the 2004 CUA Pepsi Classic
Championship, as the Cougars defeated 15th-ranked Catholic, 59-56,
Sunday afternoon at the DuFour Center.

Cole's bucket came after teammate Danny Del Valle's
tip-in tied the game at 56-56 with 48 seconds remaining. Del Valle
then stole the inbound pass with two seconds left to help seal the
game.

The loss drops the Cardinals to 10-3 on the season
while Kean improves to 12-1.

Senior William Morley (Olney,
Md./Good Counsel) led all scorers with 24 points. Freshman
Patrick Dwyer (Williamsburg, Va./Walsingham
Academy) added 11 points off the bench. The pair was named to the
All-Tournament Team.

The back-and-forth game saw seven lead changes and
10 ties as the two teams combined for 37 turnovers.

Freshman Mike Wasilenko pulls up for a jumper in the championship
game of the 2004 CUA Pepsi Classic vs. Kean (Chris Parillo, M&P
Photography).

An 8-2 run helped Catholic to its biggest lead of
the first half. Dwyer made it a 27-20 CUA advantage with 4:59 in
the period with his driving lay-in off a steal.

Down 33-28 at the break the Cougars answered,
opening the second half on a 10-0 run of their own to take a 38-33
lead.

Two free throws from sophomore Shane
Sowden (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth's) gave CUA a 52-49
lead with 5:43 to play, but Kean answered back a minute and a half
later with a big three-pointer form Bryan Keller to tie the game
for the eighth time.

After Del Valle, the tournament MVP, tipped in a
miss from B.J. Hamby, Morley's shot from the top of the key with 41
seconds rimmed out. The Cougars were able to grab the rebound and
call a timeout. Del Valle finished the game with seven points,
eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

Catholic shot 34%, a season low, and just 5-of-19
from beyond the arc, but were successful at the free-throw line
hitting 23-of-27 attempts.

The Cougars were 48% (26-of-54) from the floor and
held a 30-28 rebound edge.

With the win, Kean snaps the Cardinals streak of
four straight championships. The Cougars last won the title in
1999.

Joining Morley and Dwyer on the all-tournament team
were Kean's Matt Horton, Greensboro's Marcellus Morgan and Tuft's
Blaine Lay.

In the consolation game, Trey Williams was one of
four players in double figures as Greensboro used a big second half
to pull away from Tufts, 80-58. Williams finished with a game-high
16 points while Marcellus Morgan added 11 points.

Catholic returns to action on Wednesday, January
14th as they play at Mary Washington in a Capital Athletic
Conference game at 8 p.m. me at 2 p.m.